STARKVILLE, Miss.– Texas State hung with Mississippi State in the first half, but a 15-3 Bulldog run in the second half was the difference in a 68-51 setback on Monday night at the Humphrey Coliseum.
 
The Bobcats (2-1) could not get any offense going in the second half and ended the game with a 32.1 field goal percentage (17-of-53) while the Bulldogs (1-2) shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the floor in their home opener. The Bobcats shot a season-low 26.7 percent from the deep, although three of the four made triples came in the second half, and both teams had similar percentages from the charity stripe with the Bobcats shooting 13-of-18 in the game. (MSU, 9-of-12).
 
Junior guard Mason Harrell led the Bobcats with 15 points (5-of-13) and was 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Harrell has scored 15 or more in the first three games of the 2020-21 season. Junior guard Caleb Asberry followed with 10 points (4-of-7) to round out the double-digit scorers for the Bobcats. Senior guard Shelby Adams finished with eight points and a team-best six rebounds. Adams also had two steals and one assist.  
 
Sophomore guard D.J. Stewart Jr. registered a game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including five made 3-pointers (5-of-6). Sophomore forward Tolu Smith followed with 12 points and added five rebounds, an assist and a block. Smith was also 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.
 
FIRST HALF
Harrell sized up the defender and dropped a 3-pointer from the top of the key to spark a Bobcat 5-0 run to open the game. TXST led 7-3 before the Bulldogs returned the favor with a 5-0 burst of their own to take an 8-7 advantage by the first media timeout. The next section of the half went back-and-forth and the game had a total of five lead changes at the 10:22 mark with TXST trailing, 16-14. Both teams went cold for a while, but after five minutes without a single Bobcat points, Asberry goes on a personal 4-0 run, including a one-handed throw-down to take an 18-16 lead with 7:10 left in the half. The game continued to sway though, and the first half ended with a total of seven lead changes and the Bulldogs ahead 26-24 at intermission. Asberry led Texas State with six points followed by Adams and Harrell's five points each.
 
SECOND HALF
It was all Mississippi State in the second stanza as they expanded its lead to 36-28 and forced Texas State to call timeout with 15:36 on the clock. The Bulldogs continued to apply pressure after the break and used a 10-3 run to push their lead to 15, 46-31. The Bobcats struggled to get any offense while the Bulldogs turned in another 11-1 run to increase its lead, 50-32. The Bulldogs led by as many as 23 points and never looked back.  
 
NOTABLES
• Texas State forced 15 opponents for the second consecutive game and had a season-low seven turnovers.
• Texas State had a season-low seven assists in the setback.
• Mississippi State dominated the glass 46-27 and pulled down 15 offensive boards in the game which led to 15 second-chance points.
• The Bulldogs held a scoring advantage in bench points (24-18), and points in the paint (30-18).
• Harrell and Asberry are the only Bobcats to score in double-figures in all three games this season.
• Junior guard Marlin Davis led the Bobcats with three steals.
• Senior forward Isiah Small is scoreless for the second consecutive game and ended with three rebounds and one block.
• Junior forward Alonzo Sule had seven points, one block, and one rebound.
 
UP NEXT
Texas State returns home to face Incarnate Word at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5 at Strahan Arena.  

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